Chapter 284 : New Target

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Edit note:

Tian Long and Minny didn't accompany Sora to meet with Nate in the previous chapter.

“He seems stronger than you, but I think you still had a chance... However, it looked like he thought he could defeat us. In that case, he shouldn't have had any reason not to attack, if he wasn’t Nathan?” Harun’s voice echoed in his head, but Sora didn’t reply. He was already convinced the demon in front of him was his brother.

His eyes were fixed on the figure before him. Feeling a strange power emanating from Nate’s hand, he lowered his gaze and focused on that energy.

‘I can’t identify its main source... It’s neither mana nor mental strength. Where does he draw that power from? His soul?’

“It doesn’t look like soul power either. He’s using something we don’t control yet...” Harun commented again. “Would’ve been smarter to keep the skill [Virtual World] if you wanted to learn more... You could’ve gathered a lot more information.”

“Are you trying to probe me, little brother?” Nate’s voice pulled Sora out of his thoughts. His oppressive aura had vanished, and his smile had returned.

Sora didn’t respond, letting Nate continue. “Don’t waste your energy trying to analyze me or copy my skills... Focus on your own path instead.”

Their hands parted, but the two brothers remained facing each other for a few seconds.

Sora was the first to break the silence. “What’s your plan?”

Nate answered without hesitation, “I was hunting for Nel, but I lost track of him. I don’t know what he’s plotting, but until I find out, I’ll go after the werewolves.”

Sora was surprised by the confidence Nate exuded. “You can already defeat Nel Abbott?”

Nate nodded. “Alone, he’s no match for me. But he’s rarely alone... That won’t stop me from trying, though.”

“And you? What’s your plan?” he asked in return.

Sora replied, “I’m heading to the Spirit Kingdom...”

Nate smiled. “You must be going after that woman? Then this is where our paths split. See you soon, little brother. Please take care of Mom and Dad for me.”

As Sora smiled and nodded, his brother disappeared.

‘Shade was right. Nel’s nowhere to be found. And Nate’s preparing an assault against the werewolves. Time for us to move, then.’

“We’re finally going after that snake who escaped, and the rat who killed Sixty-Nine and our other brothers after the battle of Toronto?” Twelve asked the question everyone else had been wondering.

Harun commented, “Pukk already showed some potential back in the Ascension Tower, but he’s reached a whole new level since the update. According to Shade and the ones who just prestiged, it’s because of his Supreme Skill that they were surrounded and killed.”

Sora listened to the conversation in his mind but didn’t take part, choosing instead to rejoin Minny and Tian Long, who were waiting for him.

“Back already? What were you up to? You’re hiding something, aren’t you?” Minny asked with a curious look.

Sora ignored his questions and turned to Newtons, who was monitoring the enemy squads and groups that had infiltrated the New World Kingdom on hundreds of screens. “Anything new? Do you need my help?”

Newtons shook his head. “No. Sig repelled the Dark Elves and is protecting the entirety of America, Sylvan wipes out anyone who sets foot in Asia, and Karl is defending Africa. Ghost, Onyx, and Karl are where you sent them.”

Sora nodded. “You, Ash, and Absoluty, stay on standby and be ready to move.”

Newtons looked surprised, smirked briefly before quickly trying to hide his joy.

Noticing the exchange, Harun—still trapped inside Sora’s [Soul Palace]—panicked. “Wait!! You said you only needed my skills for a few minutes! Gimme my body back!”

Sora hesitated before saying, “I’d be stronger with your skills...”

Harun replied immediately, “But against those opponents, it wouldn’t make any difference! Newtons’ skills would allow for far more interesting things! Please, let me get back to my experiments... I’m close to a major breakthrough.”

Convinced by both Harun’s and Newtons’ arguments who complained for a few minutes, Sora finally gave in and “released” both of them.

When the two stood before him, he smiled. “Happy now? Harun, go do whatever you want. Newtons, you stay here and cover everyone.”

Both nodded, and Sora gestured for the mercenaries to follow him. Sora, Tian Long, and Minny set off and soon reached their destination.

Flying over Mexico, they continued westward, only stopping once they spotted a group of humans hiding in a dimension floating in the air above the ocean.

Sora sneaked inside the dimension, and brought the two mercenaries inside with him.

Thinking he recognized one of them, Minny pointed at the group with one hand and at Sora with another.

“But— but that’s you! There's two of you here?! How many of you are there?! Don’t tell me he’s the original?” The young Jinn didn’t hesitate to blurt out the first theory that came to mind.

Sora shook his head and smiled when the group of players turned around after hearing Minny’s voice, shocked that someone had managed to sneak past their leader's defenses.

The group before them was much larger than Sora’s.

At its center stood someone who, as Minny had noticed, looked exactly like Sora.

[ARAM] [Alius – Level 300]

Behind him stood ten beings displaying equally impressive levels — a tiger-like creature, a fairy, a lich, and several other undead among them.

On either side of Alius, experienced players stood, fully geared and ready for battle.

[ARAM] [Hope – Level 300]
[ARAM] [Emily Frekk – Level 284]
[ARAM] [Kim Dong – Level 275]
[XP Bank] [Edward McCall – Level 275]
[XP Bank] [Caitlyn Rock – Level 283]
[ARAM] [Morgan Casey – Level 296]

‘Hope and Alius have reached the max level, and Morgan’s about to join them... Looks like war really does pay off in terms of experience — whether it’s between guilds or kingdoms. Whoever made the rules clearly wants to encourage PvP.’ Though Sora rarely paid attention to other players’ levels, he couldn’t help but appreciate his allies’ growth.

Tian Long moved closer to Sora and whispered, “Your friends?”

Sora stepped back slightly from her. “Yes, they’re my friends, and the one in the center is my eldest little brother.”

Understanding the implication behind that title, she nodded. “The soul of that alter ego is incredible. Seeing him makes you really wonder who the original is.”

Sora didn’t take offense at her remark and studied the members of the group.

'Kim is level 275... While others were using the dungeons he provided or fighting Hannah’s faction, he fell behind. He helped everyone gain levels with his innate skill, but the increasing difficulty of each additional dungeon slowed him down too much...'

Worried for his friend, who didn’t seem at a high enough level for the coming battles, he promised himself he would help him catch up in the future.

Searching for other members of the group who might struggle with the planned mission, he identified a few players.

“Karim, Pedro, Clémence, and even Sin Soo-Yun, the information broker. These guys are here to fight, it seems.”

'Although their levels don’t exceed 270, each of them is among the best in their field. And from the intel collected in Newtons’ virtual world, they even have some interesting ultimate skills...'

Noticing the silence between the two groups, Emily quickly spoke up, “I see you got the news. Thanks for joining us, Sora.”

Sora replied, “I had a hard time believing it when I heard. When you were about to annihilate Hannah and her group, she was saved by players from the Spirit Kingdom?”

Alius sighed. “She was cornered like a rat, but it seems she anticipated the possibility of losing to us and prepared a contingency plan...”

Minny, not realizing he didn’t have anything useful to add to the conversation, interrupted, “Who’s Hannah? Who are these people? Why didn't you introduce us?”

Despite being caught off guard, Sora answered, “Minny, Tian Long, let me introduce my friends and allies. These are the strongest humans in our kingdom... Behind them, you can see Alius' undead generals.”

Turning to the human group he continued, “You probably know Minny and Tian Long... They’re the cream of the crop among the Mythic Bosses who’ll help us in this world.”

When Sora saw Nyx and Magnus, the first undead trained by Alius, approaching quickly, he sighed and summoned Netsu and Hiyoko.

After creating a dimensional bubble and sending Minny and the four creatures inside it, he said, “Kids, go play in there, and let the adults talk.”

Seeing Minny’s face flicker between anger and delight, he smiled and forced him into the little dimension he had created despite his resistance.

Alius, who had looked tired and irritable until then, smiled at the sight. “Sora, Hannah’s been holed up with the spirits for weeks now, and from the intel I gathered and what Ghost told me, she’s genuinely decided to join their camp.”

“If we want to eliminate her, we’ll have to infiltrate their territory, or declare war and wipe the whole kingdom off the map...”

Turning to the other members of the group, he explained, “They prefer the first method...”

Seeing the coldness in his brother’s eyes, Sora continued, “And you... you’d rather unleash your legion on their kingdom, am I wrong?”

« Chapter-283 | Index | Chapter-285 »

Author's note :

I wanted to give you all a proper update since many of you have been wondering what’s been going on.

As some of you already know, I signed a deal with a publisher back in August! Since then, I’ve been focused on editing more than 100 chapters to meet my deadline. I originally planned to edit while writing new chapters, but rereading those early ones felt like revisiting essays from when I was a kid. It painful, humbling, and full of plot holes I needed to fix.

That process turned out to be a lot more time-consuming (and mentally draining) than I expected. It killed my motivation for new chapters for a while, and I ended up going quiet — which, honestly, is my bad habit when I feel overwhelmed.

The good news is: I’m still alive, still writing, and still committed to finishing this story. However, editing is taking a huge amount of time, so I can’t promise any consistent release pace for now. I will release chapters from time to time, whenever I can, but please don’t expect a fixed schedule yet.

Thank you all for your patience, kindness, and continued support — it means a lot to me. Let’s keep pushing forward one step at a time.

To thank you for your patience, I'd like to tell you that each person that'll reach out to me on discord, or through Patreon DMs, will get 2 months of Diamond tier subscription to make up for the time spent without chapters.

— mimou